Click Hereto listen to a fantastic radio clip from The Beyond Organic Show about Why Grass Fed Beef. This clip features an interview with renouned author, professor and investigative journalist Michael Pollan (author of The Ominvore's Dilemma).

The arguments for grass fed beef and pasture farming are powerful and straight forward. It's healthier for the animals, better for the environment and healthier for you. Numerous studies have found that the meat of grass-fed livestock not only have substantially less fat than grain-fed meat but that the type of fats found in grass-fed meat were much healthier. Grass-fed meat has more omega 3 fatty acids, fewer omega 6s (which is believed to promote heart disease) and contains high amounts of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) another documented ''good'' fat. CLAs are a more recently discovered "good" fat that is believed to be a potent cancer fighter. It is also believed to help with weight loss, retain lean muscle mass and control type-2 diabetes (source WebMD). The most abundant source of natural CLA is meat and dairy products of grassfed animals.

A growing body of research suggests that many of the health problems associated with eating beef are really problems with grain fed beef (aka cornfed beef). In the same way ruminants have not evolved to eat grain, humans may not be well adapted to eating grain-fed animals.

And if that wasn't enough, grass fed beef tastes great. It has a wonderful beef flavor that is lacking in grain fed beef. For some people, this may take a short adjustment. But once you become accustomed to the flavor, it's hard to eat anything else. There's something about the clean, full flavor of grass fed beef that is intoxicating. Close your eyes, and you can almost envision the pure, fresh, nutrient rich grass that made up the diet of the cow.

Michael Pollan — Author/Journalism Professor, UC BerkeleyA contributing writer to the New York Times and Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, Pollan's investigative journalism pieces on the meat industry have been a driving force behind mainstream interest in grass fed alternatives. He's the author of The Ominvore's Dilemma which was named one of the ten best books of the year by both the New York Times and the Washington Post. His latest book is called In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, winner of the James Beard Award.